PORTLAND, Ore.—During Chicago Bulls training camp, Fred Hoiberg made a bold, unorthodox and some would say controversial decision: former Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah would move to the bench, and second-year power forward Nikola Mirotic would replace him in the starting lineup.
The idea was to open up the offense—Noah and Pau Gasol had never really worked as a frontcourt tandem, and Mirotic’s floor-stretching ability would better complement Gasol and take pressure off Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler.
That was the plan, anyway. But rather than blossoming after a promising rookie season, Mirotic has struggled.